Heyva Sor a Kurdistanê(Kurdish Red Moon) has issued a new appeal for donations and humanitarian aid for the people of Kobane and refugees across the region. International humanitarian relief in this region has been virtually non-existent and the Turkish government has made inadequate provision for refugees fleeing violence in Sinjar and Kobane to Suruc and the surrounding areas inside the Turkish border. Thousands of people are being hosted in self-made camps and are being fed, clothed and cared for by volunteers.

A recent report by the Union of Southeastern Anatolia Region Municipalities (GABB) gives a useful breakdown of the needs of the refugees in the region, including the numbers of families forced to flee from different regions of Rojava and Sinjar, as well as lists of needed supplies. You can download the report here (pdf). Further information about people’s medical needs and other urgently needed supplies also give you can idea of where the donations are going.

Now that winter is fast approaching and temperatures potentially reaching below freezing, adequate shelter, heating, clothing and food are desperately needed. There is no time to wait – please donate what you can today.Continue reading →

Today, the administration of Kobane issued this appeal to the international community calling for humanitarian aid, medical assistance and help securing power, food and water supplies for the city.

Appeal from the cantonal government of Kobanê to the United Nations and the international community

2 December 2014

The attacks of the Islamic State on Kobanê, a Kurdish town in northern Syria, have been ongoing since the 15th of September 2014. As a result of the war, large parts of the city and the surrounding villages have been destroyed and devastated. The humanitarian emergency is exacerbated due to the de facto existing embargo. Since all routes to Kobanê are blocked, it is not possible for humanitarian supplies to reach the city. Due to the plight of refugees from Kobanê located in Turkey, more and more people are returning to Kobanê. The municipality of Kobanê is run by volunteers. Continue reading →

By Stephen Smellie, UNISON South Lanarkshire who just returned from a visit to Kurdistan and Kobane. You can read more of his observations during his recent trip to North Kurdistan here.

5 November 2014

Police officers have kicked in the doors of a rehabilitation facility providing services to injured refugees from the ISIS attack on Kobane. Refugees were manhandled and verbally abused while health staff, working in a voluntary basis, were abused and told they should stop treating the refugees.

Selma Atabey is a nurse working at a large public hospital in Diyarbakir and co-president of the city’s branch of health workers union SES. Continue reading →

The South Lanarkshire Branch of UNISON recently passed a motion in support of the Rojava initiative and in solidarity with the defence of Kobane. The motion is below in full.

ROJAVA

This meeting expresses its concern at the events in Syria in recent times with the bloodshed and violence resulting in thousands of deaths and displacement of people throughout the country. We note that in Rojava attempts have been made to establish an inclusive, non-sectarian and democratic self-rule since the Assad’s army was forced to withdraw over two years ago. We wish to express our support for the people of Rojava in their effort to build a peaceful community where all people, Kurds, Arabs, Alevis, Shia, Sunni, Christians and others can live and work together and contribute to peaceful change across Syria. Continue reading →

Selma Irmak and several other DTK delegates visited towns and cities across the effected regions of South Kurdistan and Rojava in August following the massacre of Yezidi Kurds in Sinjar by ISIS mercenaries. They produced the following report, which is also available for download.

The smallest part of Kurdistan, known to Kurds as Rojava, has gifted “Rojava Revolution” from Kobanê to all over the world on 19th July 2012. The fate of nearly three million Kurds who have been occupied by the Syrian regime has emerged as an upheaval against nation-state in which very important developments and overwhelming events were experienced, and its status quo cringed everywhere and this upheaval has become a revolution.

Whether Parliament is recalled over the crisis in Iraq or not, nonetheless MPs will soon be returning to Westminster and without a doubt the issue will be among the top priorities of upcoming sessions.

This is why it is critical that our MPs – the people elected to represent you and your views – are not only informed properly about what is going on, but are also pushed to pressure the government and put our issues on the agenda. The media has followed events in Iraq closely. However, information about the greater impact of ISIS in Syria and the Middle East, the years of violence perpetrated by them against Rojava, the leading role of the YPG and PKK in the front against ISIS, the humanitarian efforts of Syrian Kurdish people and indeed, the existence of Rojava entirely, have been limited if not ignored completely in high-level discussions of how Britain should act in response to the crisis. Continue reading →

We are calling for all international organizations, human rights bodies, civil society organizations, United Nations bodies, the League of the Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, all humanitarian relief organizations, the international charity organizations, we are calling on all of them to stand with us, support us and live up to their humanitarian obligations and provide relief for the Yezidi people. The Yezidis are facing genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement by the ISIS. We have been able so far to rescue nearly a hundred thousand of people in very difficult conditions. A large number of them have lost their lives as a result of the hardships, many of them summarily executed, including women and children. Thousands have been forced into the Badush prison in Mosul, where also a large number of women are being held, some of them sold into slavery. Continue reading →

EMERGENCY APPEAL FOR AFRIN

Life in Afrin

Weekly News Briefing

Jeremy Corbyn issues statement of support for the National Demo

Message from Jeremy Corbyn to Kurdish national demonstration in London:
“I’m sorry not to be able to be with you today, but I send a message of solidarity with today’s demonstration, and with the Kurdish people, under sustained attack across the Middle East.
The conflict in Syria has been the trigger for an onslaught against the Kurdish people, who are defending their autonomy and their rights.
We are watching closely the alarming events that have been unfolding in Turkey in recent weeks, including the killing of civilians and destruction of Kurdish homes.
Any negotiated settlement of the Syrian conflict must include peace and justice for the Kurds, including in Turkey. And the Turkish government needs as a matter of urgency to restart the peace process with the Kurds and respect the rights of all its people.
We call for an end to repression of the Kurds and justice for the Kurdish people throughout the Middle East.”

Destruction and Repression in North Kurdistan

Freedom for Ocalan!

On the 19th anniversary of his kidnap and imprisonment by Turkey, we renew our call for Abdullah Ocalan to be freed as part of a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question.